- Title: Live comedy show sells out despite Singapore's COVID surge
- Date: 26th September 2021
- Summary: SINGAPORE (SEPTEMBER 26, 2021) (REUTERS) EMPTY STAGE / EMPTY THEATRE BEFORE SHOW STAGE KUMAR SPEAKING IN DRESSING ROOM VARIOUS OF KUMAR IN DRESSING ROOM, PUTTING ON MAKE-UP (SOUNDBITE) (English) STAND-UP COMEDIAN KUMAR, SAYING: "I'm very grateful that people actually coming out even during this time, because I thought people will be very scared to come out, because actually people are not really going out to dine anymore because people (are) actually very scared. So I was worried that people are not going to come, but I think everybody wants to laugh so it's a great medicine during this time." VARIOUS OF LONG QUEUE OUTSIDE THEATRE KUMAR'S BILLBOARD AND BOX OFFICE AREA (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMPLOYEE AT NATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTE, IKA SAZALI (LEFT) AND CIVIL SERVANT, ANSARI SALEH (RIGHT) SAYING: SAZALI: "Initially we do feel scared also, but after we have to go on with our own things, our own lives also." SALEH: "At the end of the day to actually come for this theatre we have to be vaccinated, that is number one. And of course we have to take care of our own safety, in terms of make sure we don't remove our masks and then being vaccinated and take care of our hygiene and sanitise when we need to. So even though there are a lot of cases nowadays but I feel that it's something that is going to be endemic, so we have to move on with it." AUDIENCE MEMBERS SCANNING QR CODE FOR CONTACT TRACING PERSON SHOWING VACCINATION STATUS ON PHONE USHER CHECKING PEOPLE'S VACCINATION STATUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BUSINESS OWNER JASON LEE, SAYING: "I think that live entertainment has been something that a lot of people are waiting for and especially it's Kumar, so she's like the number one show in Singapore so I think that it is something worth going and I do not think that it's risky because I feel that we have a lot of safe distancing measures in place so that we all can enjoy the show in a safe and well-maintained manner." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING, SCANNING TRACING TOKEN AND SHOWING VACCINATION STATUSES QR CODE FOR CONTACT TRACING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF BASE ENTERTAINMENT ASIA, CHANTAL PRUDHOMME, SAYING: "We deal with it (coronavirus measures) as it comes, we have to go with the flow, so to speak, we just have to think creatively, as to what we can do, what we can present in a theatre. We've got an amazing space here. We know people are really hungry to come and see theatre and see live productions but we have to work in parallel and kind of like side by side with what's happening with the restrictions and constant changes." VARIOUS OF KUMAR INTERACTING WITH ORGANISERS ON STAGE
- Embargoed: 10th October 2021 13:40
- Keywords: COVID-19 Kumar Unmasked Singapore live comedy show pandemic social distancing measures
- Location: SINGAPORE
- City: SINGAPORE
- Country: Singapore
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA003EWCTNIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A coronavirus-themed stand-up comedy show in Singapore sold out on its final night on Sunday (September 26) as the city state hit record new highs of COVID-19 infections over the past week.
Singapore reported 1,443 COVID-19 cases on Saturday (September 25), after registering a record high 1,650 new COVID-19 cases on Friday (September 24), the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. A ministerial task force said on Friday that the government expects daily cases to hit 3,200 this week.
The comedy show "Kumar Unmasked" has been playing to a maximum capacity crowd of 1,000 a night for the past month.
Audience members wore masks and had to show their vaccination status to ushers while maintaining social distancing. They also had to scan a QR code or tap a token to register for contact tracing with the government.
Nearly 80% of adults in Singapore are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
"I was worried that people are not going to come, but I think everybody want to laugh so it's a great medicine during this time," stand-up comedian Kumar told Reuters.
The country will tighten COVID-19 curbs this week to limit social gatherings to two people and make working from home a default, in a bid to contain a spike in infections and reduce pressure on the healthcare system.
Plans are already in place for a new iteration of Kumar's show in November.
(Production: Travis Teo, Natasa Bansagi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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